Beautiful Colmar, off our bucket list!

 

Lunch on the river Lauch in 'Little Venice', we just made it as we got the last table before the clsed the doors.

We had the traditional Flammekueche, or tarte flambée and a salad.

Don't recognize these old peeps!

Surprising Auxerre !

For our road trip over to Alsace we chose Auxerre, the capital of the Yonne department, for an overnight stay to allow us to break the journey on the way over to Colmar.

It proved to be an inspired choice as the small city was easy to explore in the time we had and our accommodation and host were excellent.

Pleasant diversion - Yévre-le-Chatel

On our way over to Auxerre and our first stop on our road trip we spotted the sign for a village of Yévre-le-Chatel ( one of the 'Most beautiful villages in France') so in spite of the extra fuel usage, we decided to check it out.

It had a similar feel to us as that of another of these villages Crissay sur Manse.

One of the highlights for us was that when we arrived there was, not surprisingly, another soul around and as we had turned up at lunchtime we thought we would not find anywhere to eat but Pauline noticed a sign and arrow pointing along a lane saying 'salon de the and restauration'. We decided to follow though both thinking at this time of year that there was little chance of it being open. As we headed along the lane we saw a man and boy digging in a ditch and enquired as to whether the place was open. The young man assured us it was and lrd us through the gates. 

The courtyard had tables, chairs and  marques spread around it but he ushered us inside into a small dining room where in a short time the man from the ditch materialised wearing a very colorful chef's hat (wish I'd taken a pic.) and we were served with a couple of very enjoyable 'salade de gesiers' and a bit of banter - lovely!

Not thinking ahead...

 

My new black Brexit 😨 passport arrived by DHL on Monday - excellent service by Passport Office, 4 weeks from receiving my application. May be just as well as we are off to Alsace tomorrow for a week and will probably need it to nip over to Germany to fill up for return journey!    

Thinking ahead...

After preparing the salon here at 'the project' for our latest dinner guests on Saturday night it got us wondering ,yet again, about where our future lies. We love the house here but the attractions of Le Grand-Pressigny still has a draw on us. We still have time to ponder this of course as we have still a fair bit of work to do here.

We enjoyed this aptly named white on the night which was brought as a contribution by one of our guests.

 

Sunday's brocante and afternoon art...

 

Yesterday morning along with friends Angela and Dennis we took in the brocante at Ouzilly over in the Vienne where we were were met with the usual mix of intriguing items along with the usual 'stuff'

Admired these two 'Brits' a Triumph and a Morgan which were parked next to my car.

The afternoon had us over at 'Le festival L’Art et Lard' in Le Petit-Pressigny. 

It's fun to walk around the village properties and take in the 'art'.

Music for the afternoon,which was like a summer's day, was provided by friends 'Celtiqua' - it was lovely hearing the sound carrying as we strolled through the diverse art expositions.

Mon banc dominical/My Sunday Bench

 

Visited 'Le festival L’Art et Lard' in Le Petit-Pressigny, this year was remembering Axel Kahn a former resident who died last year. There is a garden area in the village dedicated to him.

A bit of 'Old Hat'...

 

Dominique and I had fun last night as 'Old Hat' providing a musical backdrop to the evening repas at the Art and Lard festival in Le Petit-Pressigny.

One for 'Throwback Thursday'...

 Paul in what is now my 'Old Hat' back in 2011

Wednesday is for windows...

  

 A little TLC required on Rue du Four Banal in Le Grand-Pressigny

Monday's Loire Valley chateau - Chateau de Chaumont-sur-Loire captured on the last day of September.

 

Chaumont-sur-Loire

Mon banc dominical/My Sunday Bench at the Garden Festival

 

A good day out...

Good day out yesterday with friends, we did the wine-tasting, trogo restaurant Garden Festival trip we do annually but for them it was a series of firsts.  

Good lunch followed by some great autumn weather, after a misty start, for our walk around the Garden Festival and grounds of Chateau de Chaumont-sur-Loire.

This year's festival theme is 'Ideal Garden' and despite the extreme temperatures of summer they were looking well. If you haven't visited this year we would highly recommend it, you have until the 6th of November.